LAS VEGAS--The old landline has life in it yet. With a new network standard and new designs, cordless phone manufacturers are pairing up with Voice-Over-Internet (VOIP) providers and cellular technologies to make a classic 19th-century technology look and feel fresh.

The new standard is DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications), which is actually a decade old in Europe, but is superior to our current cordless phone technology. The FCC finally approved DECT for US use in October, giving it a previously unused frequency slice at 1920-1930 MHz, sandwiched cozily between the PCS bands used by US cellular carriers. The fresh frequency means DECT phones could sound clearer than cordless handsets in the overcrowded 2.4 GHz band, which is used by phones, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth devices.

With a 900-foot range (compared to 150 feet for US cordless phones) and the ability to hand off between cells, you can roam around a DECT-equipped campus keeping landline voice quality and your internal phone number the whole time. That's made DECT popular at hospitals and government installations overseas. DECT also has various aspects making it friendly to VOIP calling, allowing for a new range of combination landline and VOIP handsets.

Up until CES, the only DECT device available in the US was the Linksys CIT200 Skype phone, which uses DECT to connect one phone to one PC running Skype. The CIT200 basically uses DECT as a way to get around interference, but doesn't take advantage of any of DECT's more unusual features.

We saw some gorgeous DECT handsets from the small British firm XACT, though the company couldn't give us release dates or prices. Their range includes a sliding handset which hooks up to mobile phones via Bluetooth like Uniden's ELBT595 system—though XACT's slider is much prettier. Their Mango phone incorporates color we've never seen in a landline phone before, their Opal flip phone has built-in games, and their S-Impact has an extended half-mile range and rugged body for outdoor use. All of these phones will work either with traditional landlines or with VOIP services like Skype and MSN.

Auvi Technologies' PHIP100 DECT speakerphone looks like a UFO, with a built-in Webcam and a 2.1 speaker system. The speakers let the PHIP100 work as a sound system for a portable music player or PC. Like many DECT phones, the PHIP100 connects to both VOIP and landlines, but this one can connect to both simultaneously, and can even create conference calls bridging VOIP and landline on the same phone. Oddly, while it uses technical aspects of the DECT platform, the PHIP100 works on the more crowded 2.4 GHz cordless phone band. The PHIP100 will appear this June for $199, according to Auvi.

Motorola's new C51 connected home phone system will use the 1.9 GHz DECT band to avoid interference. The modular system lets you start with a $99 phone base and add a $99 surveillance camera for baby monitoring or home security, tack on a $99 Bluetooth cellular dock to merge in your cell phone line or add in a voice-over-IP adapter. The striking ME4000 and ME4200 handsets (see our slideshow) can also hook into the system for $99 if you want a better-looking phone system. One C51 system can connect to up to 6 phone lines simultaneously—one landline, one VOIP line, and four cell phones, Motorola spokesman Paul Alfieri said. The C51 system is available now.

Siemens' announcement yesterday will bring four high-end landline Gigaset cordless models to US shelves by April. The S450 and S455 are slim, elegant, businesslike phones with color screens and the ability to hook up to a PC (via a USB dongle) to make voice-over-internet calls. The E450 is a big, bouncy, rugged phone "for the clumsy child and accident prone adult," according to Siemens. The S450 will cost $99.99, and both the rugged E450 and the S455, which includes an answering machine, will cost $129.99.

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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